Earthquake Aid for Turkey and Syria Fund

Project Leader:

Pope Francis

On Monday, February 6, at 4:17 a.m., a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Syria and neighboring Turkey, followed by three more during the day. This massive earthquake was a devastating catastrophe, which in Syria’s case, added to the misery and despair caused by eleven years of war.
According to Monsignor Mounir Seccal, National Director of The Pontifical Mission Societies in Syria, the situation in Aleppo, the epicenter on the Syrian side, was catastrophic, with chaos and desolation, much of which is visible still today. “The inhabitants had to flee their homes to take shelter in their cars and in the streets in the pouring rain,” he said. “The first thing we did to shelter the population was to open the churches and monastery gardens.”
“This nightmarish earthquake has just added another thorn to the wounds of our agonizing population. Syria is living through a real tragedy,” said Monsignor Seccal. According to the latest UN reports, more than half the population is living in poverty.
The country is suffering from a shortage of products vital to daily life: no electricity, no heating oil, no petrol, and inflation due to the devaluation of the Syrian pound. It's a real state of despair and anguish.
“Today, months after this disaster, we are coming to terms with the scale of the catastrophe and realizing that we alone are unable to meet the financial needs to repair the damage,” Monsignor Seccal said. Most of the foundations of the houses have been hit and are in urgent need of restoration so that the inhabitants can return to their homes in complete safety.
“We Christians in Syria, the cradle of Christianity, have been suffering for a decade now, with a generation of teenagers who have known nothing but fear and insecurity,” he said. “We are the salt of this once-blessed land, and we hope to remain so. (Before 2011, we made up 12% of the population. Today, we're less than 4%, which means we've shrunk by more than half.)”
You can help missionaries such as Monsignor Seccal continue to support the faithful who have stayed to protect the cradle of Christianity by helping financially and psychologically: “Pray that we servants of the Church may have the strength to give comfort to our people so that they may rediscover faith and hope for better days.”
At least 57,759 people died due to the tremors. In Turkey, some 14 million people, meaning 16 percent of the total population, were affected by the deadliest natural disaster in modern history.
In the city of Antakya, the scene today is one of devastation: streets once filled with life, still today, months from the tragedy, echo with the muffled crunch of glass and rubble under the machines cleaning the debris, and the birds in the sky are primarily birds of prey.
Yet after an incredibly generous initial reaction, the world seems to have moved on, said Father Adrian Loza, national director of The Pontifical Mission Societies in Turkey.
"Even if the situation is no longer in the news, as a Church and as a society, we have an incredible challenge ahead of us, so I beg you to continue thinking of Turkey and Syria, and praying for Turkey and Syria," he said.
"We still need your help, because rebuilding will take years," said this Argentine Franciscan friar appointed head of The Pontifical Mission Societies Turkey in 2022. "And as the government rebuilds the infrastructure, we also need to rebuild the churches that were destroyed, because they are our home, the places where we come together in prayer, and also our biggest evangelizing tool."

READ MORE

$912,619

of $1,000,000 raised



Marilyn donated $50.

Kathie donated $25.

John & Gabriela donated $45.

Mary donated $50.

Sarah donated $25.

Marilyn donated $50.

Kathie donated $25.

John & Gabriela donated $45.

Mary donated $50.

Helen donated $200.

Dino donated $50.

Leo P donated $50.

Marilyn donated $50.

Kathie donated $25.

John & Gabriela donated $45.

Mary donated $50.

Marilyn donated $50.

Kathie donated $25.

John & Gabriela donated $45.

Mary donated $50.

Irma donated $50.

Marilyn donated $50.

Kathie donated $25.

John & Gabriela donated $45.

Mary donated $50.

Daehyun donated $25.

Carla donated $100.

Daehyun donated $25.

Joyce donated $50.

Anonymous donated $50.

Daehyun donated $25.

Helen donated $300.

Daehyun donated $25.

Daehyun donated $25.

Marilyn donated $50.

Kathie donated $25.

John & Gabriela donated $45.

Mary donated $50.

Daehyun donated $25.

Daehyun donated $25.

Anonymous donated $50.

Edward donated.

Jean donated $50.

Daehyun donated $25.

Marilyn donated $50.

Kathie donated $25.

John & Gabriela donated $45.

Mary donated $50.

Daehyun donated $150.

Sean & Melissa donated $25.

What your donation can do!

  • $20 helps buy powdered milk
  • $50 helps provide food for a family for a week
  • $100 helps buy clothes and footwear
  • $150 helps buy diapers and baby clothes
  • $250 will help restore electric grid in local parishes


Project Updates

Log in to add a comment

Marilyn donated $50.

7 days ago

Kathie donated $25.

7 days ago

John & Gabriela donated $45.

7 days ago

Mary donated $50.

7 days ago

Sarah donated $25.

19 days ago


1 2 3 4 5 6   


All Fundraisers: $1,350 total raised so far

Want to become a fundraiser for this project? START THE PROCESS



PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Shannon Pera
thumbnail

$50

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Keith Zacherl
thumbnail

$25

Raised: $25




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Mary Ann Zagar
thumbnail

$25

Raised: $25




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Theresa Gutow
thumbnail

$25

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Vivian Lewis
thumbnail

$25

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Maria Gutierrez
thumbnail

$100

Raised: $100




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Dominican Community of St. Thomas Aquinas
thumbnail

$1,000

Raised: $575




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Ellen Naras
thumbnail

$500

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Piccola Durand
thumbnail

$50,000

Raised: $500




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Rosemary O Sullivan
thumbnail

$50

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Larry Buessing
thumbnail

$500

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Elizabeth H Ricci
thumbnail

$250

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Diane Merrill
thumbnail

$50

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Maqbool Masih
thumbnail

$50,000

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Louise Roberts
thumbnail

$100

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
María Magdalena Sanchez
thumbnail

$50

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Thomas Barton
thumbnail

$100

Raised: $100




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Mary Conzett
thumbnail

$150

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Gerta Paul
thumbnail

$100

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Jacqueline Allen-Wilson
thumbnail

$100

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Amy Oatley
thumbnail

$3,000

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Mike Swartz
thumbnail

$100

Raised: $25




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Ralph-Peter and Diane Kufeke
thumbnail

$100

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Raymonde Forjette
thumbnail

$25

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Don Mattos
thumbnail

$20

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Jean Hamiel
thumbnail

$50

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Mary Ferris
thumbnail

$100

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Steven Jurinak
thumbnail

$25

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Lisa Kelly
thumbnail

$50

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Mary Ann Crane
thumbnail

$250

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Maria Cano
thumbnail

$20

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
Jeri Pitrs
thumbnail

$100

Raised: $0




PROJECT FUNDRAISER
James Brady
thumbnail

$500

Raised: $0